Don't count out the East

By Brian Ault Sports Central Columnist

"The Celtics/Nets series is essentially the NIT Final and the Lakers/Kings series is essentially the NCAA Tournament Final." - Norman Chad

Everyday, I hear it. It feels like a broken record. Sportswriter after sportswriter giving either team from the East about as much shot of winning the NBA Championship as Hayden Christensen winning an Oscar. I'm not saying the Celtics or Nets are going sweep the Kings or Lakers. That'd be humanly impossible. What I am saying, though, is that either Eastern team can bring either team from the West to a five- or six-game series.

How, you may ask? Well, let's start with the New Jersey Nets and their two front-court dynamos, Todd MacCulloch and Kenyon Martin. Unlike most would tell you, they can duel with Vlade Divac and Shaq. Kenyon's skilled enough that he can screw with Divac's mind more than once in a seven-game series, and Todd is faster than Shaq's lead weights of legs. They can wear them down long enough for Jason Kidd and Keith Van Horn to come in and slash them right in the middle of the key.

Another key to Jersey success, much like L.A., is their bench players. Richard Jefferson, Lucious Harris, Kerry Kittles, and Aaron Williams. These four players are the reason why the Nets won Game 1 while no Net scorer scored over 20 points in the game.

Much like Robert Horry, Rick Fox, Devon George, and Derek Fisher for L.A. and Doug Christie, Hidayet Turkoglu, Bobby Jackson, and Scott Pollard for Sacramento, they are needed to release as much pressure off Kidd, Van Horn, and Martin as humanly possible.

As for the Boston Celtics, their only way to steal games from the Kings or Lakers has to be by speed. Guys like Paul Pierce, Antoine Walker, and Tony Battie have to light them up for any shot at a victory. They get into a physical battle and they're as good as dead. I do believe, however, that the Nets can get the same results by a total team effort like they did in Game 2.

The Celtics must make every single person on the floor dangerous as hell to the opposing team. Also, don't let Battie think he can physically dominate Shaq or Vlade like he did against MacCulloch in Game 1. That could get real ugly real fast.

Whatever the case may be, I believe any of the four teams left can make an interesting and exciting NBA Finals to watch. Either that, or at least make everyone forget the corny playoff commercials with the Baha Men or the sheer unbearable length of the playoffs in general. But the inevitably exciting Finals matchup straight ahead will make it well worth the trip!

Article courtesy of Sports Central.